Where to begin: Life as my muse

The internet of loving grace 2

May

2013

In Robin Mansell’s Imagining the Internet, she makes reference to ‘machines of loving grace.’ I don’t remember ever hearing that term before. Richard Brautigan wrote “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” in a self-published free book in 1967. Wikipedia describes the poem as “… envision[ing] a world where cybernetics has advanced to a ...

The languages of art & play at FITC

Apr

2013

It’s a sad reflection on adults that we constantly have to remind ourselves to incorporate play into our lives. And creating things, for the sake of creating things, seems to require insurmountable effort just to push the busyness away to make it happen. Sometimes seen as frivolous, art and play are essential for everyone. Both ...

Art, nature + a dreamcatcher bra

Apr

2013

In an ad for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, it said, “20 minutes north of Toronto, surrounded by 100 acres of northern landscape and hiking trails.” It’s like a perfect mash-up to explore on the weekend. Experiencing nature is exactly why I love escaping to the country. And being able to experience different forms of ...

Birds, bees, flowers, trees, honey and maple syrup

Mar

2013

When I was a kid, my family traded Alberta honey with relatives for Québec maple syrup. While our farm is not one that produces honey, a symbiotic relationship exists between honey producers and grain farmers. The honey producers will place hives on land with flowering crops. Bees need the flowers’ nectar for honey. The flowers ...

Why I want to go to FITC

Mar

2013

Marshall McLuhan said that, “We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.” If that’s true, I want to be sure to have a say into the technology that’s going to have an effect on me. FITC // Future. Innovation. Technology. Creativity. // is the perfect laboratory to continue ...

Final thoughts on my #Aboriginaled 2

Mar

2013

In 1972 my dad was in a plane crash in the Arctic. He was working up in an oilfield. Fortunately everyone survived. Two local men rescued them. As soon as my dad got home, he proposed to my mom. Four kids came some time later. We live happily-ish ever after. It’s a story I’ve always ...

Do those who can’t do really teach?

Mar

2013

Following the Oka Crisis, the Government of Canada setup the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) to address “government policy with respect to the original historical nations of this country.” The RCAP is said by many Aboriginal peoples to be the most comprehensive record of modern-day dialogue on issues affecting Aboriginal peoples. A paper I ...

Being so, so alone

Mar

2013

Remember a time when you couldn’t imagine feeling any more lonely. Now imagine that you’re five years old, alone away at school. The thing is you were brought to that place when a couple guys barged into your house to take you. Like literally take you against your will when your dad was serving overseas ...

Even good stereotypes are bad

Mar

2013

There’s a Seinfeld episode in which Jerry gets a date with a woman named Donna Chang when the phone lines are crossed with George’s parents. Before he meets her he’s chatting with Elaine about how excited he is to be going out on a date with a Chinese woman, because he finds the Chinese so ...